Hearing that Faen was going to Oovi-Kat to deal with problems left over from history, the Kiilash, Kalan, was slightly taken aback at first. Then, a look of sudden realization appeared in his eyes. He nodded emphatically and said, "I understand. Then this matter truly cannot be delayed. Although I do not believe this is enough to repay your kindness, I will definitely do my utmost to cooperate with the work of the Temple of the Long-Standing and Fae'lor, so that my people and humanity can understand each other."
Ionia is not a single continent, but an archipelago. Among them, the seven largest islands are named as provinces. Furthermore, Ionia itself does not have a clearly defined central government like Noxus or Demacia; the vast majority of its people are simply guided by the Temple of the Long-Standing.
Among these seven provinces, the Navori Province is the largest, with flat and fertile terrain and the best overall conditions, making it the capital of Ionia in the minds of many. To the east of the Navori Province lie three island provinces: Ra'Kalin, Wu'Ju, and Oovi-Kat, from top to bottom. These three islands also serve as the reservations for Ionia's Vastaya.
Before this, the people lived in peace. But with the expansion of civilization and cultural exchange, the border issues between humans and Vastaya grew increasingly fierce.
Just as the Kiilash settlement chose to remain deep in the jungle—where no one could enter without a guide—the reason was that the Kiilash did not want the Primal Essence they relied on for survival to be affected by the arrival of civilization. The reason a powerful Primordial like Kalan could be born here was entirely due to the abundant Primal Essence and natural wild magic.
And Primal Essence itself was indispensable for them to commune with nature. But now, on the three islands including Oovi-Kat, as the war impacted the Spirit Realm, the Primal Essence also began to be affected. Karma had no spare energy to deal with it, and such conflicts were exactly the kind of nourishment Syndra thrived on. Naturally, the responsibility fell onto Faen's shoulders.
Of course, saying the responsibility "fell" onto Faen was an understatement; in reality, Faen enthusiastically took the whole job upon himself. After all, under the essence of Ashlesh, Faen's pursuit of joy was pure and eternal. Having lost their wild magic, the vast majority of Vastaya were lost about their future. If he could help them find a new path, enter a new civilization, and embrace a new era, the massive amounts of joy and hope generated would further enhance Faen's power.
As for Lillia, Ahri, Xayah, Neeko, and the others living on or near the three islands of Oovi-Kat... Faen hadn't thought that far ahead at all.
Of course, as someone firmly walking the path of "pure love," if he truly happened to encounter them by chance, and if something accidentally happened—like, say, Ashlesh's curse acting up or something—as an honest, hardworking, dependable man, Faen would naturally shoulder the corresponding responsibilities.
In short, all the problems were Ashlesh's fault, and Faen was just helping Ashlesh wipe her ass.
Ashlesh bad. Faen good.
As for why Kalan specifically singled out Fae'lor to mention again, it was purely because Fae'lor had ceased to be Ionia's domain a long time ago. Although geographically, Fae'lor was still the island Ionia had historically used to interface with the outside world, on the level of the Spirit Realm, it had been justly severed by the Spirit of Ionia as the sealing ground of the Dreaming Pool back when Syndra's training went out of control.
Sleeping in the Dreaming Pool for thousands of years, and with Syndra's awakening, Fae'lor itself had been dyed in Syndra's colors. Considering that the newly rising fighting spirit still needed a buffer period to integrate into Ionia's traditional culture, those with more rigid mindsets also needed time to accept it.
More importantly, with the Noxian invasion, the people most severely affected were the residents of the coastal regions—their lands invaded, their homes burned, their forests logged, their land spirits decimated to less than one in ten. Everything they cherished was reduced to flying ash.
Just like the Unspoken of Fae'lor, these people were natural followers of Syndra. They needed an ideology to guide them; otherwise, they would turn into the Navori Brotherhood from the original lore, becoming so crazed and fearless of death in their quest for revenge against Noxus that they would even launch assassination attempts against Irelia.
To prevent all sorts of extreme situations from arising, the current Fae'lor had essentially become Syndra's fiefdom.
Many who agreed with the ideology of fighting spirit had already spontaneously traveled to Fae'lor to participate in the new construction. Alongside the residents of the Navori coastal regions, they were rapidly restoring Ionia's coastal infrastructure. However, the current construction was drastically different from the past, filled with an open hostility that starkly contrasted with the former harmony. There were even Noxian-specific military fortifications, such as bastions, chevaux-de-frise, and watchtowers...
Western Ionia was changing at an astonishing speed, while the east was Faen's next destination.
Leaving the Kiilash settlement, after walking just a few steps, Faen clapped his hands and said, "Come out."
"..."
Hearing Faen's words, there was a moment of silence. Then, a short figure slipped out from the shadows under a nearby tree.
She wore her hair in a wild braid, with messy strands sticking up from the back of her head like a standing blade. Her pants were slightly baggy but bound tightly at the calves with foot wraps. A storage pouch rested on her lower back; aside from scrolls, smoke bombs, and various other tools, signature weapons like kunai and a chain-kama hung on the outside.
Wearing a dark green tube top, her beautiful waist and back were exposed to the sunlight, the subtle muscle definition exuding a healthy aura. However, unlike an ordinary young girl, the spiritual power of the Fist of Shadow lineage was imprinted on her body in the form of tattoos. This made the girl—whose eyes were already exceptionally bright and sharp—look even more rebellious and untamed, like a sharp sword or a kunai hidden in the shadows.
Looking at Faen—this guy who clearly wasn't much older than her but had somehow become her master—Akali let out a few silent harrumphs in her heart. However, she didn't feel any dissatisfaction regarding this status issue.
If she really thought about it, Akali felt that having Faen as her master might actually be pretty great. After all, compared to her previous masters, not only was this guy named Faen vastly more powerful, but more importantly, he was one of the few people in all of Ionia whose ideology Akali agreed with.
Her mission was pruning. In Akali's eyes, things like "earnest, gentle teachings" were the most ridiculous things in the world. To deal with enemies, one should use swords and kunai!